Old Fashioned Candytuft for Early Spring Flowers

Candytuft has been flowering in my garden since the second week of January. While the clusters of white flowers are on the small side, it is always nice to see signs of life when everything else is dormant or dead. Candytuft, Iberis sempervirens (pronounced eye-BEER-is sem-per-VY-renz) is used as a groundcover. Early in the year, the flowers can be sparse but as temperatures rise the blooms are so profuse that they almost conceal the dark green evergreen to semi-evergreen foliage.

Candytuft was widespread in gardens when I was a child, but it has fallen out of favor. I don’t understand why. This plant has a cast-iron constitution. Plants were not pampered at my childhood home. They did not receive fertilizer, soil amendments, or supplemental water. Instead, they went directly into unamended clay. And, for the most part, they thrived. Our foundation beds were edged with Candytuft. It put on a spring show, and then retired into obscurity the rest of the year, allowing attention to focus on the taller shrubs and foundation plantings.

Candytuft has a sprawling habit. Everywhere its stems fall onto soil, it will take root and slowly expand into a pretty edger. Leaves are leathery, narrow, and only an inch long. Flower clusters are about the size of a quarter coin. Candytuft prefers full sun and a neutral to slightly alkaline soil, although those in my childhood home were never limed and they did fine. Plant roots will rot in wet soils. They are hardy in zones 3-8, although they are only semi-evergreen in the colder zones.

Mature plants tend to open up a bit as stems elongate and spread horizontally. Trim with scissors or handheld pruners every 2-3 years to encourage branching and bushy new growth. A light trim when flowering is complete may result in repeat flowering. Plants can be used as a “spiller” in containers, or allowed to drape gracefully over the top of a wall.  Candytuft is rarely damaged by insects or disease. I would like to tell you that they are resistant to damage from deer or rabbits, but my neighbors tell me that their plants have been damaged occasionally, although not ravaged.

I have only seen two cultivars in garden centers: ‘Alexander White’ and ‘Purity.’ The smallest cultivars are ‘Whiteout’ (2-3 inches tall and 5 inches wide), ‘Little Gem’ and “Snowcushion.’

Candytuft is also available in an annual form, Iberis umbellata. It is easy to start from seed, and comes in shades of pink, lavender, purple, red, and white.

Three years ago, this was a 4-inch pot of Candytuft. I allowed stems to root into the surrounding mulch. It is now 30 inches across.

A close view of Candytuft flower

Choose Camellias for Winter Flowers

Hellebores, crocus, winter aconite, and early daffodils are making a show in my garden right now. Camellia japonica flowered, the blooms were blasted to ugly brown by a cold snap, and then dormant buds flowered for a repeat show. There are several species of Camellias, but the most common in southern gardens are Camellia japonica and Camellia sasanqua.

Camellia japonica (pronounced kah-MEE-lee-ah jah-PON-ih-kah) flowers in winter and early spring. It prefers partial shade to mostly shade. These evergreen, broadleaf shrubs are slow growing but make an excellent privacy hedge over time. Planted in a suitable location, they require little if any pruning. They will eventually reach 12 feet tall and up to 5 feet wide. Flowers are up to five inches across, in shades of pink, white, red, and variegated. Flowers can be single, double, formal double, with stamens visible or concealed by the petals. Blooms can be floated in a shallow bowl of water for an indoor arrangement. Shrubs with variegated flowers will occasionally have a few leaves that are mottled with yellow spots as well. This is not a cause for concern.

Camellia sasanqua (pronounced kah-MEE-lee-ah sah-SAN-kwah), sometimes called simply Sasanqua, blooms in late autumn to winter. It will tolerate more sun than C. japonica. It is a fast grower, reaching up to 14 feet tall and up to 7 feet wide. Sasanqua flowers and leaves are smaller than C. japonica. Flowers average 3 inches across, and single in form with yellow stamens. Flowers are pink, red, or white and petals are a bit ruffled. Blooms shed quickly, so they are not good in cut flower arrangements. Flowers appear on prior year’s growth, so avoid pruning for the best flower show.

Camellia japonica leaf on left. Camellia sasanqua leaf on right.

Both these species of Camellias are hardy in zones 7-9. They are adaptable to most soil types and acidic to neutral soils. Their thick evergreen foliage, their shiny leaves, and their resistance to deer damage make Camellias a good choice for southern gardens despite their susceptibility to several types of diseases and insects. Rake up and discard fallen flowers to reduce fungus issues. Clemson University has an excellent fact sheet on potential diseases, prevention, and treatment. Click HERE for their bulletin. Camellia’s dense canopy provides winter protection for songbirds.

Cleyera Is An Improved Hedge Choice

As I assembled holiday arrangements today, I fondly remembered a hedging plant from my garden of many years ago, Red-Tip Photinia. In the early 1980’s, many southeastern gardens contained hedges of Photinia x fraseri, widely known as Red Tip after the reddish coloration of new growth. Red Tip fell victim to a fungal leaf spot that virtually wiped it out. Disease problems are exacerbated when large numbers of the same plants are located in a narrow area, called a monoculture.

Fortunately for us gardeners, a worthy replacement to Red Tip has surfaced in form of Cleyera, or Ternstoemia gymnanthera (tern-STROE-mee-uh jim-NANTH-er-uh). In some ways, Cleyera is better than Red Tip. It prefers neutral to acidic soil (no lime required). It is slow-growing with a mature height of 8-10 feet, which means it is low-maintenance. Consider it as a replacement for Leyland Cypress. It has a loose, open habit but it can be kept shorter and made denser by limited pinching or light pruning once per year. For faster growing specimens, look for the cultivar ‘Contherann.’

Cleyera prefers a bit of shade to prevent its leaves from scorching. In spring, Cleyera has small white flowers, followed by green berries that turn red in fall. Neither flowers nor berries will wow the observer. Instead, enjoy attractive glossy, bronzy-red new growth in spring, dark green summer leaves, and slightly bronzed fall leaves. While it will never be the star plant in the garden, it is an evergreen that makes a great privacy hedge choice for partly-sunny or partly-shady areas.

Cleyera is cold-hardy in zones 7-9. It tolerates a wide range of soil types. Avoid planting Cleyera in locations that are constantly wet.

Mid-summer leaves of Cleyera. Photo by Jim Robbins CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

New growth of Cleyera. Photo by Krzysztof Ziarnek, Kenraiz CC BY-SA 4.0

A mature specimen of Cleyera, Ternstroemia gymnathera ‘Le Ann’. Photo by Jim Robbins CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

Moss Phlox or Thrift Provides a Blanket of Spring Color

“Common” names often cause confusion about plant identity. The spring-flowering groundcover at my childhood home was always called Thrift. It wasn’t until I started working at a garden nursery that I learned that its true identity was Phlox subulata, pronounced FLOCKS sub-yoo-LAH-tah. Then a customer asked for Thrift but meant Armeria, also known as Thrift. The two Thrifts are completely unrelated. Armeria juniperifolia (juniper-leaved thrift) and Armeria maritima (sea thrift) grow up to one foot tall. One has sharp foliage like a juniper while the other has grassy-like foliage. Both are perennial in zones 4-9, and are salt-tolerant. Their flowers remind me of Scabiosa. The focus of today’s blog is Phlox subulata, an old-fashioned southern standby.

Phlox subulata is also known as Creeping Phlox, Moss Phlox, Rock Phlox, and Thrift. This evergreen perennial reaches only six inches tall, at most. It forms a tight mat of needle-like foliage that works well as a groundcover and is frequently used in combination with large rocks. The flowers are small (3/4 inch across, with five petals) but so numerous that they conceal the leaves, appearing like a blanket of color. Thrift is blooming right now in my area, with showy mats of pink, rose, white, light blue, or lavender flowers. It is often used on steep banks or slopes, where it will self-seed and spread to cover uneven terrain and prevent erosion. Give Thrift full sun or part sun in acidic soil. It requires little maintenance beyond a little thinning if it becomes so congested that it starts choking itself.

Phlox subulata is native to the US and will grow in zones 3-9. It is rarely bothered by insects or diseases. Deer do not normally browse Thrift; the flowers are favored by hummingbirds, bees, and butterflies.

I planted a couple of these Phlox subulata under a new redbud (Cercis chinensis ‘Don Egolf’) last year. The color of the flowers is a near-match to the color of the tree’s blooms. They flower at the same time, and are neighbors to a yellow Forsythia, which provides a nice color contrast.

This thick mat of Thrift (Phlox subulata) has spread to replace grasses or weeds that might have grown under this fence, eliminating hand-weeding or string-trimming.

Tupelo, A Honey of a Tree

Tupelo, also known as Blackgum, is among the first trees to show fall color. Summer leaves are a pretty, shiny green. In autumn they turn fiery red, which you may have deduced from cultivar names like ‘Red Rage,’ ‘Wildfire,’ and “Firestarter.’ A few leaves will have yellow, orange or purple highlights. In spring, the nectar-rich flowers are a butterfly favorite but blooms are so small they are unnoticeable to humans. In late summer, female trees produce deep blue or purple fruit, a treat for turkeys, songbirds, bears, opossums, and raccoons. Honeybees produce a high quality, pale honey from Tupelo nectar.

Tupelo (Nyssa sylvatica, pronounced NYE·suh sil·VA·tuh·kuh and mispronounced by me 100% of the time as NISS-ah) are native to the eastern US, and are hardy in zones 3 through 9. They prefer a moist, acid soil in full sun, but are adaptable to wet or dry locations, are wind- and salt-tolerant, are fire resistant, and will withstand some shade. They grow in sand, clay or silt soils.

While deer may nibble the tender new shoots in spring, they leave mature trees alone. The straight species and older cultivars may suffer from leaf spots, but this does not seem to harm the tree. ‘Red Rage’ and ‘Green Gable’ cultivars are resistant to leaf spot problems.

These are slow growers but can be induced to speed thing up by the addition of water and fertilizer. Mature height is typically 30 feet with a 20-foot spread, but in favorable habitats they may reach 90 feet or more. Tupelo Tower™ is a narrow cultivar, only 15 feet wide at maturity. A weeping cultivar is available, as is a variegated form, but I have not found those in local nurseries. A super-cool cultivar, ‘Zydeco Twist’ has gnarly, contorted limbs that make one think of Harry Lauder’s Walking Stick, an unrelated plant.

Although leaves can be confused with those of common Persimmon (Diospyros) trees, Tupelo limbs emerge from the trunk at a 90-degree angle, which (along with their dark, blocky or ridged bark) makes trees easy to identify in winter. Tupelo leaves are clustered on short, smooth limbs, “spurs.” Persimmon leaves are not shiny, and occur all along the length of the limb. Tupelos have a tap-root structure that means they transplant best when young.

Brilliant fall color

Tupelo fruit

The beginning of autumn color change

Muhly Grass for Autumn Color

Autumn colors are orange, red, yellow, rust…and pink? Across the southeast, Pink Muhly Grass (Muhlenbergia capillaris, pronounced mew-len-BERG-ee-ah or mew-len-BER-jee-uh) is reaching its peak. We do not usually think of grass as a flowering plant, but there is no mistaking the decorative value of pink Muhly. Its feathery plumes float like clouds of pink cotton candy. A white-flowered form is available also but is harder to find than the pink variety. White varieties bloom a little later than pink forms.

 Mulhy is easy to grow in full sun, zones 6-9. Native to North America, it will grow in sandy, rocky, or clay soil. Avoid constantly wet soils. It is not troubled by insects or diseases, and is highly resistant to deer damage. Plants grow up to four feet tall and  three feet wide. Established plants are heat and drought tolerant. The narrow leaves sway gracefully in breezes. Flowering begins in autumn and is followed by attractive seed heads that persist through winter, providing food for birds. The purplish-pink form ages to a creamy tan color and the white form ages to an attractive gray.

 A standalone plant is attractive, but mass plantings of Muhly are gorgeous. Two pairings that are particularly attractive: Pink Muhly with purple-leaf Loropetalum,  or White Muhly paired with purple-flowered Mexican Salvia (Salvia leucanthemum).

 Plants may need to be divided every three years or so to avoid dieback in the centers. Give clumps a cleanup cut in late winter or early spring, before new growth starts, but do not cut so short that the crown is damaged. While some other grasses may become invasive, Muhly is well behaved and makes a perfect addition to the low maintenance garden.

Pink Muhly Grass used as an edging

Blooms look like cotton candy